Territorial Grain Growers Association

The Territorial Grain Growers' Association (TGGA) was a farmer's association that was active in Western Canada at the start of the 20th century, in what was then the Northwest Territories and later became Saskatchewan and Alberta. It provided a voice for farmers in their struggle with grain dealers and the railways, and was influential in obtaining favorable legislation. After Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces the TGGA was succeeded by the Alberta Farmers' Association and the Saskatchewan Grain Growers' Association.

At the start of the 20th century the North-West Elevator Association, closely associated with the Winnipeg Grain Exchange, controlled over two thirds of the grain elevators on the prairies. The elevator companies, working together, could force the farmers to accept low prices for their grain. When there were shortages of rail cars the railways gave preferential treatment to the companies over the farmers. The 1908 "Partridge Plan" listed other "ill practices" that included "the taking of heavy dockage, the giving of light weight, misgrading the farmers' grain sold on the street or graded into store, failure to provide cleaning apparatus, changing the identity of the farmers' special binned grain, declining to allot space for special binning and refusing to ship grain to owner's order, even when storage charges are tended.

The Manitoba Grain Act was passed in 1901, designed to prevent these abuses and ensure fair practices and prices in the booming grain trade in the prairie provinces of Canada. There was a bumper crop that year, and farmers found they could not get their produce to market because the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) and the grain companies were still failing to conform to the act. Almost half the crop was lost due to spoilage due to lack of space in the elevators and lack of railway cars. In November 1901 two farmers in the major grain shipping center of Indian Head, John Sibbold and John A. Millar, organized an "indignation meeting" that was attended by about fifty farmers. The group united in "opposition to the corporations which they stigmatized as their oppressors".

In December 1901 William Richard Motherwell (1860–1943) and Peter Dayman of the Abernathy district arranged a follow-up to the Indian Head meeting. The farmers agree to form a Territorial Grain Growers' Association (TGGA), and nominated Motherwell as provisional president and John Millar as provisional secretary. A meeting was held on 6 January 1902 to draw up a constitution for the association. Motherwell and Matthew Snow of Wolseley began touring the region and encouraging farmers to form local TGGA associations. The first annual convention of the TGGA was held on 1 February 1902, attended by delegates from 38 local groups. By this time the TGGA membership was 500. To ensure that it could speak for all farmers, the TGGA was careful to avoid association with any political party. The provisional officers were confirmed at the February meeting.Charles Avery Dunning (1885–1958), later to become Premier of Saskatchewan, was appointed a director of the TGGA and later became vice-president.